Sónar founders cut ties with festival amid Superstruct/KKR ownership controversy

Sónar's founders have reportedly cut ties with the festival amid controversy around its ties to KKR, the parent company of its owner, Superstruct Entertainment.

According to La Vanguardia, Enric Palau, Ricard Robles, and Sergio Caballero have resigned from their positions in managing Sónar, over 30 years after they first launched the Barcelona-based event.

Sónar, which was first founded in 1994, remained under the ownership of Palau, Robles and Caballero until they sold their majority stake in the festival to European events giant, Superstruct Entertainment, in 2018.

A source from Superstruct has told Mixmag that the departure of Palau, Robles, Caballero and Barba is part of a "planned exit" that was "agreed upon during" the events giant's aquisition of Sónar in 2018.

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Superstruct, which was established by Creamfields' founder James Barton in 2017, was later acquired by the world's second largest investment company, KKR, in June 2024.

La Vanguardia reports that Belgian promoter François Jozic, a co-founder of Brunch Elektronik and current CEO of Superstruct's Centris group which also manages Off Sónar, Hivernacle, and Re-Cup Europe, has now taken on the role of CEO at Sónar.

The publicaton also reports that Ventura Barba, who joined Sónar's management team later as a partner, will also be leaving the company and stepping down as CEO, but will "remain on board until the end of the year to help with the transition."

Palau, Robles and Caballero's departures come after scores of artists withdrew from this year's Sónar Festival, calling on its boycott over the “complicit investments” of KKR in Isreal's genocide of Palestinian people.

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KKR's alleged investments include weapons manufacturing companies, the Coastal GasLink pipeline, and a number of Israeli corporations that operate in Palestinian territories.

A statement from Sónar earlier this year distanced itself from KKR, claiming that the festival "will not send a single euro" to KKR in response to concerns from the music scene.

[Via: La Vanguardia]

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter